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The Gift of Music – How a Legacy Gift Could Support Birmingham’s Promising Young Musicians

Writing a gift into your Will for Services For Education (S4E Limited) would make a long-lasting and significant difference to the development of young and aspiring musicians across Birmingham.

We are a new and therefore fairly unknown charity, formed in 2012, but have over 50 years’ experience supporting schools and providing the best possible music education in our city, formerly as part of the Council.

All young people in Birmingham deserve the opportunity to be the best they can be, regardless of their background or current situation which is why we do what we do.

Music For AllWe provide over 28,000 young people with a musical instrument at no charge to them or their parents and run free ensembles too

Better Education in BirminghamWe support 92% of Birmingham schools and invest £8 million in our services to schools in Birmingham

Give Children MoreThe music and school support services give children and young people more opportunities to learn, grow and to reach their potential

YOU Can Make a DifferenceBy supporting us with legacy gifting, you can leave behind a gift that Will change the lives of children around Birmingham

A legacy gift to S4E Limited, large or small, could make a world of difference to the future of manyyoung musicians across Birmingham.

We receive and welcome legacy gifts of all sizes for a variety of purposes, from supporting our free musical instrument loan service which allows any young person the chance to learn on a quality instrument regardless of their financial background, support for our extensive range of free ensembles that cater for all levels of ability and genres, to more general and unrestricted uses, which allow us to direct the funding where it is most needed and where it will make the most impact on the educational lives of the young people in our city.

We would love to say thank you.

It would also be very helpful for us if you could tell us about your future plans. It would not form a legally binding commitment but simply act as an indication of your intentions.

This gives us ideas on how to plan for the future, but most importantly it gives us the opportunity to thank you for your generosity.

You do not have to be a millionaire to leave a gift to S4E Limited. A modest gift can make a significant difference.

how do you leave a legacy gift?

Whether you are writing a Will from scratch or already have a Will in place and need to add a codicil*, the only vital element is that you specify that you are leaving a gift to “S4E Limited, registered charity number: 1148848” to make sure we are correctly identified.

What is a codicil?*

A codicil is a document that supplements your Will enabling you to include new instructions and delete old ones without having to go through the task of rewriting the whole Will.

You can request to leave all or part of the net residue of your estate to S4E Limited. This is what is left (the residual amount) after all pecuniary legacies (below); debts and other charges (including any inheritance tax) have been met.

Or can allocate percentages if you wish to name more than one cause close to your heart or to divide your estate between individuals and charities.

Example wording:

“I give to S4E Limited, Registered Charity Number 1148848, the residue (or % share of the residue) of my estate absolutely and I direct that (i) the proceeds may be used its general charitable purposes and (ii) a receipt signed by a person for the time being authorised by the Board of the S4E Limited shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my executors‘.

A gift of a specified amount of money that you wish to leave to S4E Limited. This can be index-linked to ensure that it retains its value and is not eroded in value by inflation over time.

Example wording:

“I give to S4E Limited, Registered Charity Number 1148848, the sum of £ _____ and I direct that (i) the proceeds may be used for its general purposes and (ii) a receipt signed by a person for the time being authorised by the Board of S4E Limited shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my executors‘.

You can also bequest non-monetary items to us, such as musical instruments, but please do talk to us about this first as we will need to check that we will be able to accept your gift.

*Please note that the content of this page is not intended to constitute legal advice and we do not provide legal advice. We highly recommend that you seek legal advice from a solicitor to ensure your Will is legally valid, up to date and fully reflects your intentions.

Solicitors will charge a fee, but you will receive sound professional advice and can be sure that your wishes are accurately reflected and you have advice that meets your personal needs and could identify some things you may not have thought about.

If your taxable estate is valued at more than the inheritance tax nil rate band (£325,000 for 2017/18) or more than double this if you are the survivor of a married couple, then the value of your estate over the nil rate band is liable to inheritance tax at a rate of 40% on the excess value.

However, if you leave 10% or more of your estate to charity, the rate of inheritance tax reduces to 36%. The rules on inheritance tax are complicated so we would recommend you take legal advice if your estate is or might be liable to pay inheritance tax.